Police nab two foreigners with 70 grams of heroin

Police nab two foreigners with 70 grams of heroin

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A joint team of the city police, immigration office and Jakarta
Narcotics Agency arrested on Thursday two Nigerian citizens for
possession of 70 grams of heroin.

The two, identified as Franky Okolha and Abdul Prince, were
arrested in their rented house in Kota Bambu, Tanah Abang in
Central Jakarta. They are now undergoing intensive questioning
at City Police Headquarters.

"We nabbed them this morning in their rented house in Tanah
Abang. We hope we can trace more drugs and their big bosses after
the interrogation," unit head for psychotropic substances at the
city police Adj. Sr. Comr. Mulyadi told The Jakarta Post.

He added that police would treat them as dealers, not users,
as the weight of the substances was too heavy to be used by
themselves.

Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics and Law No. 5/1997 on
psychotropic substances stipulate that a drug offense carries a
maximum penalty of death.

Tanah Abang is notorious for illegal drug trade where many
foreigners, mostly from African countries, sell drugs to
Indonesian users or dealers. To cover up their activities, they
often own clothing shops around the areas.

The joint team also raided 30 immigrants in area, 12 of whom
have been detained by the immigration office for having no proper
documents to stay in Indonesia, Mulyadi said.

"We will continue to conduct similar raids, as we believe that
many (foreigners living in the area) are involved in drug dealing
and have no documents to do business in Indonesia," he said.

Police said earlier that Indonesia had become the target for
international drug syndicates, similar to the Philippines and
Thailand.